About

A panel painting showing a battle of the First Dutch War, 1653, probably viewed from the Dutch perspective. Hostilities came about between England and the Netherlands because of the ever increasing conflict of trade interests between the two powers. There were several battles during 1653 but it has not been possible to establish which is being shown in this painting. The battle occupies the whole of the picture space. In the centre of the painting a Dutch ship can be seen with lions, probably of the United Provinces on her stern. She is engaging with an English ship visible through the gun smoke to the left. In the centre behind this ship is a confusion of English and Dutch shipping engaged in fighting. In the foreground on the right are the tops of masts and flags, all that is left of an English ship that has sunk. There is another English ship shown on the far right of the painting. Other debris is shown on the surface of the water, and there is a small ship's boat moving through the waves to collect survivors. Pieter Coopse